Nottingham Forest man emerges as potential Preston North End transfer solution amid Burnley links

Preston North End are being linked with a move for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien.

The report, from journalist Alan Nixon, comes after injury to Lilywhites captain to Ben Whiteman. PNE’s skipper will be sidelined for an extended period after suffering a ankle blow at the training ground. Boss Paul Heckingbottom, following Preston’s win over Middlesbrough on Saturday, suggested the club would ‘be daft’ not to look at options in the transfer market.

And O’Brien, a player Preston were linked with last summer and Heckingbottom almost signed for Sheffield United, has emerged as a potential recruit. He recently returned from a loan spell with LAFC, for whom he made 12 appearances. That was the 26-year-old’s second stint in the MLS having had a 18-game stint with DC United in 2023.

Since joining Forest in the summer of 2022 - after losing the Championship play-off final to them with Huddersfield Town - O’Brien has only turned out 17 times for the City Ground club. He was set to join Blackburn Rovers on loan in January 2023 but paperwork was not sorted in time and a move to Ewood Park fell through.

The midfielder, who has 18 months left to run on his Forest contract, has been linked with a handful of clubs this month. Rovers are one of those along with Preston’s fellow Lancashire rivals, Burnley. There has been reported interest from Hull City too. However, talk of an eventual move to Blackburn was subsequently played down due to the finances involved.

It’s been suggested that Forest are happy to sanction another loan for O’Brien. However, one possible snag for PNE is said to be room on the wage bill. Josh Bowler is currently on loan at Deepdale, from Forest, but not in the first team picture. It’s been reported that the winger could see his loan spell end early however no recall clause was included in the agreement.